Leisurely Lunches in France

Times are changing everywhere, but not at the same speed. I just returned from a week in the French countryside, and I can tell you that the traditional practice of shopkeepers closing for two hours at mid-day for lunch continues.

Most clothing stores, patisseries, bakeries and other shops close their doors at 12 noon and don't reopen until 2:00 or even 2:30 pm. These closures give proprietors and their staff ample time to enjoy lunch with a friend or spouse, and even run an errand or two.

Sure, it is true that France is one of McDonalds' most successful non-U.S. markets. And in Paris, many workers are opting for fairly quick lunches of sandwiches. But in the small towns and villages outside the capital city, one still sees plenty of French eating lunch at a leisurely pace at restaurants or cafes. The cheque dejeuner system encourages this.

That photo above was my lunch one day as we stopped in the Burgundian village of Gevrey-Chambertin, amid the region's hallowed vineyards. I ordered the foie gras, which was served with wonderfully toasted slices of brioche, caramelized onions, some greens and a fig-balsamic glaze.

Second Helpings in France

If you're a guest for dinner at someone's home in the U.S., it's not unusual to be asked if you would like "a second helping." If you do, you simply ask for "more pot roast" or "more asparagus" or more of something else.

Interestingly, this blogger informs us that in la belle France, the custom is quite different. She's married to a Frenchman and has lived in France, so she should know a thing or two about the country's customs. In any case, she writes:

If you ever attend a (French) dinner party and plan to take seconds, you must take seconds of all the dishes. For example, if the meal consists of a meat, potatoes and a vegetable, you cannot just take a second serving of the potatoes; you must take a second helping of all three, otherwise you will insult the host.

It makes them feel like you only liked the potatoes so that is all you want to have again.

Or, if they weren't so hyper-sensitive, they could conclude that you simply liked the potatoes the best. Which raises the question: what if you did only like the potatoes? So what?

I love dining in France, but this custom seems more like something that overfed, overweight Americans would have devised.

Sarkozys Eat "Demi-Fumees"

That's the literal French translation of the term half-smoke. According to The Caucus blog, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, each ate two half-smokes this afternoon at Ben's Chili Bowl, a place described as "a venerable U Street eatery" in Washington. D.C.

"They were both real hungry, I think," said Ben's manager, who waited on the duo.

Vineyard Fantasies

Every now and then, when work life and crowded Metro trains are getting to me, I fantasize about opening a wine bar or owning a vineyard. Not that I have enough money lying around to do either, but, hey, that's why I wrote "fantasize." Anyway, The New York Times published this article about the latter.

For a group of affluent wine lovers, buying a French vineyard is similar to indulging in a yacht or a villa in the south of France.

... "Today, about 90 percent of my vineyard sales in France are to neophytes, including many industrialists who have sold their companies when they are in their 50s and 60s," [said a real estate broker specializing in vineyards].

... [Stephane Paillard] also offers an after-sales service, called Club du Vin, which advises neo-vignerons on everything from designing the wine to creating a personal brand image for the estate.

Since I have a hard time keeping a poinsetta plant alive beyond a week, I'm probably not someone who would shine at grape cultivation. But I sure enjoy drinking the final product.

Nothing to Pop a Cork Over

It's hard to celebrate these numbers if you're operating a vineyard in France's Champagne district. According to the Wall Street Journal:

Champagne producers agreed to pick 32% fewer grapes this year, leaving billions of grapes to rot on the ground, in a move to counter fizzling bubbly sales around the world amid the economic downturn.

. . . In 2008, as the recession set in, sales slipped to 322 million bottles, the first decline since 2000.

. . . growers say they resent suffering at the hands of what they call Champagne houses' overly ambitious sales expectations.

Even in good times, champagne sales face some tough obstacles.

One problem is that champagne-drinking is associated with hors d'oeuvres or dessert. It's not something that people are encouraged to drink throughout a meal (although the French will do so on rare occasions).

Another problem is that even moderately good champagne is pricey. While cheaper wines from Australia and Spain have helped to make red and white table wines more accessible to middle-income people, the lower end of the champagne market is pretty small -- and it generally isn't fit for anything but making a Mimosa.

If you're going to invest in a $25 to $35 bottle of champagne, you need to have at least one other adult, preferably 2-3, to finish it and make it worth the investment. On the other hand, it doesn't sting so much not to finish a $9 bottle of Garnacha because you didn't shell out that much.

Julia on the Big Screen

Reflecting on the first lunch she ate at a restaurant in France, Julia Child called it "the most exciting meal of my life." That scene and Child's quirky, butter-makes-it-better approach to cooking are both showcased in the new movie "Julie & Julia."

As this N.Y. Times article explains, the film's director, Norah Ephron, went to some extraordinary lengths to make sure this movie got it right on all the details of Child's life and culinary exploits. You could even say that Ms. Ephron ate her way through the movie's script.

I am looking forward to watching this film. Child was definitely a one-of-a-kind character who significantly changed the way America looks at meals.

France: Slipping a Little But Still #1

Although he writes that French wine consumption is falling and that the vintners of la belle France are "hemorrhaging market share abroad," Slate's Mike Steinberger adds:

But don't put a cork in the country just yet; despite its woes, France is still the wine world's beacon and will surely remain so long into the future.

For one thing, it continues to churn out most of the planet's truly great wines . . . . I don't think there are many wine geeks who would dispute it.

. . . Exceptional wines are made elsewhere, including the United States, but no other place comes close to matching France for sheer number of bench-mark wines.